The persecution of Christians in
Turkmenistan
continues.
Recently, 22-year-old
Amirlan Tolkachev was sentenced to 18 months in prison as a
conscientious objector.
The young man is the tenth Jehovah's Witnesses
to end up behind bars in
2013 for refusing to do his military
service.
The Turkmen Constitution defines the military service as a "sacred
duty" and does not allow substitute service for those who, for political
or religious reasons, refuse to do it.
Although
Article
18 of the religious law guarantees the right to conscientious
objection, every Turkmen between eighteen and twenty-seven years
must serve in the army for at least two years, under penalty
of imprisonment for up to eighteen
months.
According
to local sources, at least 15 conscientious objectors have asked for the intervention of the Commission
on Human Rights at the United Nations.
Norway-based
Forum 18, a news service committed to documenting violations of religious freedom
in Central Asia, reports that the Turkmen authorities have refused to give any explanation about the Tolkachev case.
On 29
August,
a few days after Tolkachev's arrest, a similar
raid to those launched by Uzbek authorities in Samarkand and Tashkent
targeted a children summer camp organised by the Baptist community in the area of Mary.
Like the Uzbek police, government
agents in Ashgabat imposed two
heavy fines on the community without
providing plausible legal
arguments.